High-grade digital microscopes encompass a stationary stand body with which the microscope is mounted on its installation surface, as well as a pivotable base unit in which the image sensing unit and an objective system are received. This pivotable pivot unit is pivotable around a rotation axis relative to the stand body so that the objects to be examined microscopically can be viewed from different angles; this can be useful in particular for the assessment of depth.
Once the pivot unit has been moved out of the position in which the pivot unit is arranged uprightly above the microscope stage, i.e. in which the beam path is directed vertically, with manually adjustable microscopes it is difficult to position them again exactly in that position. Although approximate positioning in the initial position can easily be accomplished by the operator, accurate positioning is difficult to estimate. In many application instances, however, it is necessary for the pivot unit to be arranged as accurately as possible in the initial position.
One possibility for circumventing this problem is to use pivot units that are adjustable in motorized fashion, in which the initial position can be arrived at correspondingly via the motor. Motorized systems of this kind have the disadvantage, however, that they are costly and space-intensive. In addition, electrical power is always required for adjustment of the pivot unit.